ArHi SS: Inertia [Completed] - Page 23

Have yet to read ... will be back ...

He was embarassed when he found out that he had the message ready for 2 weeks before sending it - that is so cute! Having a normal conversation with shared interests can be so refreshing. Loved their talk over coffee - the best combination :-)

Aha! This is what I love.

10: Suddenly new summer

"You want me to do what?" Khushi scratched her scalp wondering if the Sun had fried through some of the neurons in her brain as what she was hearing was, well, preposterous.

"A podcast with me Khushi. I am surely you know what it means." Divya, a research assistant poked her side. "Please please please..." She begged. Khushi had sprawled on Divya's bed reading some of her thesis.

Divya and Khushi had hit it off when Divya had graciously shared her expensive moisturizer with SPF50 with Khushi on a particularly bright sunny afternoon. She had taken one look at Khushi's skin and had handed over the tube. They had become fast friends after that. Having already graduated and working at the University, Divya's outlook on life was Khushi's fascination. She was a person who had recently transitioned from student to a fully functioning adult which gave Khushi an outlet to speak about her future.

Khushi raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You must be really desperate if you are coming to me two hours before the supposed podcast." She said sitting up and bunching her hair on top of her head. Divya's carefully tousled hair bounced on her shoulders when she shrugged. "How many people have you asked already?" Khushi asked narrowing her eyes.

Divya looked sheepish. "Everyone from my site turned down. Aman laughed for a minute and then declined." She looked suddenly cheerful. "They are all tuning in when I told them you will help me with this podcast."

"Wait. Tuning in? Is this podcast going to be freaking live?" Khushi asked, alarmed.

Divya nodded her head. "Technically it's a live audio stream."

"I am a horrible public speaker." Khushi wailed.

Divya scoffed. "You babble just fine." Looking at Khushi's affronted expression, in a pacifying tone she said, "Look, all you have to do is answer questions honestly. To maintain integrity of the interview, I cannot show you the questions beforehand. I am very sure you will do well Khushi."

"Why do you want me in this thing anyway?" Khushi asked, resigned.

Divya sighed. "I had a huge argument with the person who was supposed to do this with me last night. I honestly don't want to talk to her or be in the same room as her. So..."

Khushi flopped back and buried her face in the pillow. "Fine." She yelled, only the sound came out as a muffled groan.

Divya laughed.

Divya had opened the "interview" with basic information about Khushi. She had warned Khushi earlier that sometimes questions could get personal and it was Khushi's prerogative to answer however she wished to. Fifteen minutes into the show, the question were slowly becoming invasive that could potentially rake her old wounds.

"How much loyalty is important to you in friendships, relationships or any sort of partnerships?" Divya asked softly, her smile apologetic. Khushi had filled her in about the growing distance between her and her sister one day and Divya had simply listened. No advices were doled out nor were any comforting words. Khushi had felt some knots in her stomach loosen with that confession.

Khushi took a sip of warm water. "Betraying loyalty can turn you homicidal. Absolute betrayal can make you suicidal." At Divya's stunned expression, Khushi hastily continued. "All of us experience some sort of disloyal behavior from people around us. Or it could even be our favorite TV show for not turning out the way we want to. It's shitty thing to say that experience with disloyalty makes you better judge of character. No, it doesn't. It makes us feel crappy, used and disrespected as a whole. It isn't a good feeling and I find it stupid when people say it makes you strong. How can something that chips away a bit of you with its blunt force make you stronger? It makes one vengeful or untrustworthy." Khushi sighed and cleared her throat noticing how her voice had risen by the end. "I need one person in my life who is loyal to all me, my flaws and all my shortcomings. I need a cheerleader who doesn't let the tendrils of self-doubt and self-deprecation clutch my bones. We all need a person like that in our lives, don't you think?" She asked Divya whose look she couldn't decipher.

"What if you had such a person and you lose them?" Divya asked, sounding sad. Khushi wondered for a fleeting moment about the person she had replaced for the show. She didn't know for whose benefit the question was asked. "The question is asked by four different people on Twitter. And me." Divya said and rattled off the Twitter handles. It was a way to give Khushi a moment to think and Khushi was glad for that.

"We don't really lose anyone, you know?" Khushi said looking at the blank wall. It was her way to search for words and piece them together. "You are losing many memories you didn't get to have. You are losing infinite moments that would have changed your life. But the existing memories and moments are always going to be there - haunting, stalking and sometimes consuming the waking moment. The angrier you are more of the moments get tainted. Don't hate the person who betrays you. Be civil. Be courteous. Be polite. Be gracious. Be a great acquaintance. It's a slow healing process and you are going to be alone in that. It's okay when it happens. Shit tends to happen to us mere mortals. Make new friends. Interact with people who you don't agree with. Find your comrades - the ones who like the things you do and do the things you want to do. They are the safety net. But once in a while, remove that net and jump anyway. If you fall then you fall. If not, don't let go of the person who caught you. Cheers!" Khushi raised her glass and clinked it with Divya's glass.

Divya responded with her own delightful "Cheers".

"So, Khushi. Summer love." Divya grinned. She pointed to her monitor and made Khushi see the show's Twitter page. Khushi grinned in response at the plethora of comments made on her monologue. Divya continued to give shout out to some of her subscribers, answering few questions and giving Khushi's voice few minutes of needed rest.

Khushi wet her lips and started to answer. Her phone lit up signaling incoming of a message. An involuntary smile split her face. "Waiting for your answer." Arnav had sent.

"Summer love is fragile silky thing that slinks at the edge of your consciousness. It's the final note of beautiful music, a fleeting glance of a painting that is stuck forever in your mind for the rest of your life. It feels like plunging into sea cool water on a very hot summer day. You want to explore that gentle feeling, the nudge to your heart in a deeper way but you already know that it's going to make your chest ache with feelings you didn't know were hibernating. Summer love can be burning fling like the season suggests or the cool summer breeze on warm evenings. I am particularly a fan of the latter; all the heat and volatility of the day dies at twilight and there is just warm night, cool breeze and infinite stars to look at." Khushi allowed a beat of silence before picking up the thread she was on. "People are buried under scar tissues, anger, denial, depression, disappointments, heartbreak, loneliness and many other things. Summer is too bright a time to keep them all hidden in the deepest chambers of your heart. They inevitably get exposed at some point. In that moment, don't hesitate to take the hand that is offered to pick you up. You may not find love. You may not even find friends. And that's okay. You have lived the moment - the moment that scares the shit out of everyone else. That's brave. You have seen a part of yourself that's been hidden for so long that its darkness tries to consume the brightness in you. Face them. Fight them. Accept them. Do you feel lonely? Organize your books, clothes, cosmetics...your room. Make lists. Read a book you always wanted to read or the one that you never wanted to finish. Learn how to cook and sing at the same time. Make your own recipe. Join a summer class on something you have absolutely no clue about. Walk till your legs burn and chest ache. Feel the sweat sticking to your body. Feel alive. You don't have to be alone to feel lonely. It's easy to be lonely amongst a group of friends too. Summer love will find you. But sometimes, you will have to find it for yourself." Khushi nodded at Divya saying she was done.

Divya launched a monologue echoing Khushi's words while Khushi looked at her cellphone, waiting. She fumbled when she the new message coming through.

"I don't feel lonely anymore."

Khushi breezed through the rest of the interview.

Good Going..Nice Update..👍🏼

awesome...seems like this is what Khushi has been trying for herself...she was betrayed by payal suddenly n she is trying to move on...

A beautifully written chapter. Khushi's answers were brilliant. Loved the last line "I don't feel lonely anymore."

U wrote a dream dear... A very beautiful one...
So many of us thinks to do stuffs but always get caught in the Web of calculating the pros and cons of everything. ... sometimes we should juz let go... start afresh with the memory of what we lost or what we cannot have...
This chapter will always be in my mind...
Can't praise uh enuf fo ua writing...

I don't think Khushi is horrible speaker at all

This chapter feel like a beautiful poem.